Mouteau Park......

I went back to Mouteau Park yesterday to look for butterflies and dragonflies.  I guess because of the high cost of gas, they haven't mowed the park yet.  The grass is full of tall "weed" flowers of many kinds and attracting a lot of small butterflies and bugs.

It may be a "weed" to most people, but when filling a huge grassy field, I think Fleabane is very beautiful.

And the butterflies like it.

 The grass is so tall, the Robin was almost hidden from me.

 The Black Locust trees are blooming and the scent is overpowering.

 Tall Phlox along the edge of the trees.

 A Dandelion "puffer".

Steps leading me down into the weedy, flowery field......"butterfly heaven".

 There were lots of the tiny Eastern Tailed Blues in the grass.  This clover blossom was a big attraction!  I love watching them flit through the grass like little winged violets.  I will post more photos of them tomorrow.

 I don't know what these strange bugs are, but there were a bunch of them in the grass.  Didn't know if the tail of this first one is suppose to look like that or if it was broken off.  Not like the one below.

 A Crawdad hole (crayfish, crawdad, )  You see these all over the wet areas.  I never see the crawdads, but some of the holes are very tall.  I remember Mike telling me if you put a piece of bacon on a string and put it at the entrance of the hole, you might be able to pull one out.  I remember trying it, but I don't have enough patience and never caught one.  I did feel one nibble a couple of times.  Hmmmmm.....maybe Mike was just seeing if I was dumb enough to try it.

 A damselfly.....no idea which one.

 A dragonfly from an odd angle.   Not sure from this angle....maybe a Slaty Skimmer?  I know I usually see them here.

 Pearl Crescent on the Fleabane.

 Just an interesting tree hole.  I'm always taking shots of tree holes and hoping to see something in one.

 Violets and Dandelions

One of the "weed" flowers that I thought looked pretty.

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This photo wasn't at the park.  We passed this flooded field and I could see the wading birds along the edge. By the time we found a place to stop, they were all moving away from me.  Blue-winged Teal and some sort of sandpipers.